Dear Signing Agents,You need to REGISTER and have a password to post or reply to discussion topics. Please remember, your password for your listing on 123notary.com is NOT RELATED to and is different from your password on the forum. Your password on the forum can be whatever you want it to be.Lookup a specific signing company, word, or phrase

123 Notary has certainly been my #1 source of calls from Signing Services and also provides some private party calls. Jeremy seems to be a master of maintaining high search engine placements. Every time I run a search for any Notary related key words 123 comes up in the top few results.

SigningAgent.com did provide a healthy stream of jobs when I first signed up for the NSA listing, but has dwindled down to about 1 call a month recently. After experimenting with their search engine I learned that their listing priority seems to be based on how recently you completed the NSA course and paid them. This helps the "newbies" get started, but does not inspire me to renew with them as that top listing is a fleeting possession!

Notary Rotary has been a very low volume source for me, about 1 job every few months, but I have their free listing.

Yikes. Since my mamma taught me not to reply to something if I don't have anything nice to say about that Notary Rotary, I'll not comment. I get SO MUCH WORK from 123, always have, always will. There IS NO COMPARISON, espec when it comes to the drama on their message board. Plus, who can forget when "he" sold the electronic notarization product for California Notaries Public, geesh. How many of you wasted your money on that? Okay. off my box.

quote:HiNo I wasn't replying to your post and I couldn't find the one I replied to.I am a very big fan of l23notary and recommend this website at every loan signing class I teach for www.notaryclasses.com.www.notaryrotary.com is also a very good site to get work.

Our search results are ordered based on an algorithm that puts the most qualified, certified, best trained, most responsive, and highest paying notaries near the top of the list.

I certainly do not agree with that statement. The one who is willing to pay the most, will appear at the top of the list. There is a "certification" exam available here, but that too does not guarantee any real qualifications.

It is true that persons at the top of the lists pay more for a listing that those at the bottom. I recall (could be wrong) that it was reported here earlier that in competitive areas not everyone was “invited” to take the top spots. Experience, attitude and training may have a role in who is on the top and what is paid for it.

The standard certification program is different than others in that it is a timed test of basic NSA knowledge. In my opinion, it better gauges the knowledge and gut response from a person responding to questions concerned with this process than most any of the other tests I've seen. The pace to answer does not allow for enough time to research answers so the respondent must be ready and should have reviewed the materials in advance to know what to expect. It can only be taken twice so studying the first time is recommended. The Elite test is different as it is currently done one on one, but you have to pass the regular test before proceeding to the elite.

If nothing else, it is a gold star on a resume that would indicate interest and a desire for wanting work. Like most anything else, it is not a guarantee that the person will be the absolute finest. You’ll notice that there is no exemption from potential positive or negative feedback regarding the top spot notaries from vendors comment.

With a name placing me in the middle of the alphabet, and on the edge of the metro area where most of the action is, my higher price listing gets me more opportunities than most other web sites as 123Notary gets outstanding placement on most all search engines. If part of my higher cost payment helps accomplish then I’m currently thankful.

Our search results are ordered based on an algorithm that puts the most qualified, certified, best trained, most responsive, and highest paying notaries near the top of the list.

I certainly do not agree with that statement. The one who is willing to pay the most, will appear at the top of the list. There is a "certification" exam available here, but that too does not guarantee any real qualifications.

Never drive any faster than your guardian angel can fly.

I am not an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Florida,and I may not give legal advice or accept fees for legal advice.

Interesting - for whatever reason, I RARELY get low-ball calls, too. If that were all I were getting, I'd not be shoveling out for my precious top spot here! The only time I really get those types of calls is at EOM when they're hitting the desperate level.

Renee, to reinforce what you said regarding fees and skills, take a look at the tips section for those seeking notaries. Jeremy was pretty “up front” with expectations. Well, here is what it says:

Tips for escrow and title companies to find a notary

Its best to find a notary by searching from the top of the list, and then work your way down the list. Our search results are ordered based on an algorithm that puts the most qualified, certified, best trained, most responsive, and highest paying notaries near the top of the list. Although notaries near the top of the list are more likely to charge more for their services, they generally offer a much higher quality of service. Notaries near the bottom of the list are generally on a free trial, or let their membership lapse. The notaries near the bottom of the list often are less experienced, or less motivated about aggresively marketing their notary services.

Remote areas - In remote areas, most notaries listed in a particular area do not live in that area. We generally list the locals in the first several spots of the list, and then list those in neighboring counties, and then those in farther away counties to make your search efforts as efficient and optimal as possible. Please pay attention to the "x" on the right of the search results which indicates if a notary is local to the area.

Excellent point, Lisa - totally agree, plenty of potential value is completely lost if the 'data' on the data-base is worthless. That becomes a huge factor if you're not at the top of the list with an excellent profile.

I'd have to assume that here on 123, those anywhere near the top are going to be active because it's not cheap to be in those positions. This really is a benefit then, of the pricing schedule here. In order to bring the client TO the data-base, the data has to be GOOD, and the pricing does have to help with that here.

I have to credit 123 with a large part of my profit-margin (as well as a large part of my expenses!). I'm SO fortunate - much of my success has little to do with me, and a lot to do with location and I'm grateful for that - but 123 brings in the vast majority of new clients, it has to be at least 80% (I ask, but I don't actually track it).

Interesting - for whatever reason, I RARELY get low-ball calls, too. If that were all I were getting, I'd not be shoveling out for my precious top spot here! The only time I really get those types of calls is at EOM when they're hitting the desperate level.

A title company I now have a good relationship with called me one afternoon [a year ago] for a reverse mortgage signing. She mentioned that she called eight notaries ahead of me and not one of them answered their phone. On notrot, there are no premier members for my city so someone looking for a notary for my specific city must drop to the basic members. I am fifth on the list of basic members for my city and get calls now and then for signings, so I suppose the four notaries above me are either booked or don't answer their phone either. A great profile and high placement is moot if the Notary doesn't answer his/her phone. When notrot removes stale profiles, I'll become a premiere member.

123 Notary has certainly been my #1 source of calls from Signing Services and also provides some private party calls. Jeremy seems to be a master of maintaining high search engine placements. Every time I run a search for any Notary related key words 123 comes up in the top few results.

SigningAgent.com did provide a healthy stream of jobs when I first signed up for the NSA listing, but has dwindled down to about 1 call a month recently. After experimenting with their search engine I learned that their listing priority seems to be based on how recently you completed the NSA course and paid them. This helps the "newbies" get started, but does not inspire me to renew with them as that top listing is a fleeting possession!

Notary Rotary has been a very low volume source for me, about 1 job every few months, but I have their free listing.

I don't think it's an either/or choice for us (which "vs." implies), as the two listing sites are pretty much a given in this industry.

The forums - I wish there was a greater understanding of how a forum works and what it ultimately does. The primary function of a forum, it's FIRST reason for existing and the reason for the site owners to endure the added headaches a forum often creates is to BUILD PAGE RANK. That's really OUR best gain as well. The greater the page rank, the greater chance we get jobs. So ultimately, we (the site owners and us, the NSA's) all have the same goals.

By USING a forum, we help the site gain (or remain) in ranking and that helps us get jobs. Now, that said, there are many ways in which to use a forum - but the first priority should be to USE it. Post, respond, talk about our work so the words of our trade get plastered all over cyberspace.

I try to use them all, regularly - first, because I understand the relationship of an active forum and JOBS. What follows that down the list of reasons is because, since I work alone, I just like to talk shop with people. It keeps me from being totally isolated in my day. I'd be thrilled to see this forum become as active as the other, because it helps us ALL to keep these two industry leaders head-to-head in competition. Their success is our success is their success ... or is it "forum follows function follows forum ..."

Both sites produce work calls resulting in income for me - I pay for a premium spot here on 123Notary and I also pay for Premier Membership on NotRot. I visit both forums, but I much prefer the format of NotRot - it's much less cumbersome than the format of this and all other chat forums that I've participated in.

Hi. I work in California, and have gotten more referrals from 123notary than any other site. Besides, Carmen and Jeremy have always been super helpful to me when I've needed them. I love this site! Carla

I totally agree with you, Vince. My comments refer to the NotRot people who get so vocal with other seasoned members. Sometimes it seems that no matter the subject or question, some people will climb up one side and down the other of the poster.

It's just not necessary to be so mean sometimes. Remember what Thumper's Mom said...

This may be a controversial thing to say, but the attitude difference is likely because of frustration. Many of the posters on Notary Rotary have been closing loans for many, many years. They have seen huge changes in the industry. The fees received at the beginning of this decade are not what they are now and yet expenses have increased. That is largely due to the increased competition for jobs. Some of the competition comes from persons that may only be able to “do notaries” in the evenings and weekends, because they have full time jobs that are not fully supporting them. Some of the competition are other folks that are supplementing income. These folks are trained through various methods, the largest being a national association of notaries that is located in California.

That Association published a fee schedule that they said was the minimum fees companies should expect to be paid. Those fees were less than 25% of what persons were earning at the time. When seasoned Notaries later asked why this schedule was so low and had not been increased as costs continued to escalate, they were advised that the fee was designed for newly trained folks that needed a lot of help and did not in any way reflect the customary fee that seasoned notaries could expect. However, new notaries were promised “big” money similar to the income received in the late 1990's while at the same time fees were dropping like a rock. Many signing services that help “newbies” enter the business take more than half the notary fee leading many title companies to believe that all notaries will accept lower level “training fees” designed to get them into the business. Those fees are not enough to support a professional’s cost of doing business, but they do take jobs away from seasoned personnel, and typically pan out to be less than minimum wage. That is why you will usually be asked what your cost of doing business is as a start to how much you should charge for a fee.

So, some might think this is simply good competition by having a huge stream of persons entering the a business with a hopeful future, but the seasoned folks have now been re-entering the regular workforce because many of the good paying jobs are gone.

Some say that this is similar to what has happened to the auto industry with foreign competitors coming in with non-union jobs that pay less than what the big three were paying. Unfortunately, that analogy breaks apart quickly as the foreign manufacturers are paying over three to four times minimum wages with full benefit packages. There is simply a free market. There will be no bailout.

So, some of the seasoned persons are not eager to help persons enter a field that lowers the standard and the wages for those that are already there. Some of these folks honestly express their impatience and frustration by taking on the “newbie” that is expecting to have everything handed to them. A great deal of helpful information is available on postings for those that take a moment on how to use the search engine of the website. Nearly every question can be answered. But instead, a “newbie” will simply announce themselves and say things like: “Hi, my name is ___ and I’m now certified. How much should I charge people to “do notaries?” Or: “the section for me says the document was reviewed by ___. What do I put in that spot?” And so on. So, if a Notary wants to learn, perhaps they need to develop a little thicker skin, spend a lot of time learning before they start asking questions, take decent training courses and become thoroughly familiar with the documents before they ask for help.

Well, hope that explains my opinion of why things are the way they are. For the Notary that takes the time to learn all of this information, will you help every person that intends to take your job - or only the ones that do so with class? Most seasoned persons are looking for another that they can refer some of their business to when times are good. Will it go to the respectful learner, or to the “tell me now everything I need to take your job now crowd?” Notary Rotary persons are simply more vocal as they have known each other for many years.

Both 123Notary and Notary Rotary, and one or two others, offer good material to those that want to become a respectful learner and are seriously interested in becoming a professional loan signing agent. And both offer very good resources in very different formats.

I like Vince's last comment, however, how can I share the growth we have had? We continue to get more sophisticated, but the market continues to get smaller. We are like a large fish who keeps getting larger in a lake that keeps getting smaller.

However, I keep learning new techniques for notaries to get ahead, so if notaries need mentoring advice from me, I am only an email away.

Notary Rotary is amazing in that their resource materials are so vast. Their forum has so much information. 123's forum is catching up a bit with notary rotary, but in these slow times its hard to get momentum. I found that when I really spend time myself developing discussion topics, that really helps significantly.

Tips for using the forum
The most important feature on the forum is the search box. You can look up a particular word, phrase, name of a company, and see a potentially large list of search results with which you can obtain data. Filters are also valuable. If you want to find popular posts, you can use the number of views filter. You can also see whats new with the active topics link. Email us at info@123notary.com if you need any help using the notary forum.

Resources
The notary public resource page is valuable as it has links to all of the free information pages for notaries. Pages linked to the resource page include a page that teaches you everything you need to know to get the most out of your listing. Another page teaches you all the secrets of getting paid. There is a link to our free list of signing companies. There is also a glossary, learning tools, and much more.
If you are a notary, the free tips we give are invaluable.